


Surface Tension

by Suspicious_Popsicle



Series: Mix Tape [8]
Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2018-01-09 13:03:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suspicious_Popsicle/pseuds/Suspicious_Popsicle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A/N: The continuing adventures of Flynn not getting what he wants and sometimes just plain not getting it. </p>
<p>Disclaimer: The characters in this story are (mostly) from Tales of Vesperia and do not belong to me.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Surface Tension

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The continuing adventures of Flynn not getting what he wants and sometimes just plain not getting it. 
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters in this story are (mostly) from Tales of Vesperia and do not belong to me.

In his mind, Flynn kept returning to that kiss, straining to recall every tiny sensory detail and captioning all of it with a dozen variations of ‘I should not have done that.’ On his way out of the library, he passed by a group of students clustered near the doors. The smell of their cigarettes was accusatory.

Yuri was in a relationship. Flynn had known that when he’d kissed him. Being caught up in the moment, having too much to express in words wasn’t an excuse. Yuri seemed to have written it off easily enough, but Yuri wasn’t the one Flynn had to face in the mirror everyday. A year ago, he never would have considered himself the type to interfere in someone else’s relationship. He wouldn’t have expected to end up getting into physical fights with his roommate a few times a week, either. Some days, he worried about what sort of person he was becoming.

He walked away from the library, trying not to look at the knowing smiles on the statues of the muses that flanked the stairs, as they were reminding him more and more of a certain sardonic smirk. The thought called up a mental picture of Yuri, Muse of Metal, decked out in a shredded black band tee toga, hair wreathed with tangled amp wires and guitar picks, Old Scratch in his hands, and a challenge to the whole damn world in his grin.

Quickening his pace, he tried to escape the ridiculous image. He left the buildings behind, skirted the dip of the campus amphitheater where people congregated to chat and picnic and play. Not much further on was the thick hedgerow that enclosed the grounds. It had rained earlier that day, and the air was thick with the smell of earth and plant life. He inhaled deeply and sighed, glad of the solitude. The thick grass was still damp, but not so much so that he hesitated to lay his messenger bag down upon it. He set his violin case on top of that and flipped open the catches, sure that he would feel better once he’d played for a little while.

Just as he made to lift out the instrument however, his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number and glanced longingly at his violin before answering.

“Hello?”

‘Flynn?’

The phone nearly fell from his hand. “ _Sodia_?”

‘I heard about what happened. I…I wanted to see if there was anything I could do.’

He hadn’t seen her since he’d graduated high school. They’d had classes together since elementary school. She’d been one of the few girls in his judo classes, and they’d even moved in the same social circles, although they’d never been particularly close. He wondered how she’d gotten his number, then decided that he didn’t care. It would probably do him some good to have someone objective to talk to.

“Actually, are you free today?”

\---------------

They met up at the Black Hole Bistro and Flynn told her everything that had happened, start to finish. She listened to all of it, throwing in the occasional comment on his behalf. By the time he had finished, he was freshly exhausted by it all. He apologized for having gone on for so long and took a hungry bite of the burger that had arrived in the middle of his recounting of events.

Sodia seemed to be taking it all in stride. She ate a few bites of her club, letting everything settle before she spoke.

“You need to move out.”

“But—”

“You only started to think that you might be interested in him once you began processing what your mother had done to you, right?”

“Well….” He recalled his fascination with the piercing on Yuri’s tongue. “Yes.” It was a half-truth, at least.

“There, see? It’s all because you were emotionally vulnerable. Get away from him and it will pass. Besides, he isn’t a good influence.”

“That’s not true. He’s—”

“He’s dragging you into fights which could cause you to injure your hands, taking you to concerts and parties where people go deaf because they haven’t heard of moderation in all things…. Flynn, he’s going to ruin your career.”

“I don’t have a career just yet.”

“And you won’t, if you don’t separate yourself from him.”

“You don’t understand. He isn’t trying to destroy my life or make me change who I am. He just….”

How could he show her that Yuri wasn’t as bad as he’d just accidentally made him out to be? He was a good person, at heart. Sure, he was frustrating, but he was also engaging and smarter than he admitted to, disarmingly intuitive sometimes, and funny.

“Oh! Here, take a look.”

He pulled out his cell phone and looked up the only picture he had of Yuri, the one he’d gotten from Estelle that day when Yuri had left them in the Jasmine Teahouse. Sodia looked it over, confusion plain on her face. She didn’t laugh and the story wasn’t funny when Flynn tried to tell it. He took his phone back, smiling a little at the photo.

“Yuri…understands me. There’s more to him than he lets on.” He could practically feel bow and strings under his fingertips. “You should hear us play together.”

“Please tell me you aren’t applying that old cliché about making beautiful music together to the two of you.”

“We do, though.” Hoping the flush creeping into his face wasn’t obvious, he put his phone away. His words had sounded too defensive.

“I think you should introduce me.”

The way she narrowed her eyes made him feel like that would somehow be a very bad idea. He let her follow him on the drive home, anyway. He couldn’t think of a good reason not to.

\-------------

Yuri and Crash were on the living room sofa playing Super Smash Brothers when Flynn and Sodia walked in. Crash was sitting upside down, ankles crossed against the wall as his head dangled off the seat cushion. Yuri was sprawled next to him, leaning on the arm of the couch. One of his feet hung over the floor. The other was stretched out over Crash’s stomach. Flynn looked back and forth between them and the screen.

“How can you play upside down like that?”

“Practice.”

“Practice, my ass. I am _destroying_ you!” Yuri whooped and raised his controller high as he won the round. “Suck it!”

“Burn,” Crash drawled. He’d been playing Kirby.

“You guys want in?”

Flynn glanced at Sodia, who was staring at Yuri rather intently, as if she would be able to see what Flynn saw in him if only she focused hard enough. He made a quick round of introductions and Crash waved at her.

“’S up?” Patting the cushion next to him, he invited her to have a seat.

As she made herself comfortable, Flynn pulled out the remaining two controllers and plugged them in. Yuri sat up to make room for him, then immediately flopped right back down over his lap, wriggling and pushing.

“You aren’t comfy,” he complained.

“I’m not a cushion. Get off!”

He hoped he wasn’t blushing as Yuri sat up properly, and tried not to be too disappointed when Crash didn’t get kicked in the face in the process. He was getting jealous, which wasn’t good, but how could he help it when Yuri didn’t have the common courtesy to refrain from flaunting his relationship?

When the character screen came up, he selected Marth and Sodia chose Samus and they joined the fight between Kirby and Bowser.

Sodia didn’t hesitate to make her opinion known. She attacked Bowser relentlessly, Kirby when necessary, and left Marth alone.

“Ease up on my cold blooded bro. Me and Flynn are gonna feel left out.”

“He’s the villain. He’s supposed to be defeated.”

“Okay, well hold up. Yuri, lemmie borrow you a sec.”

“Wha—! Hey! Knock it the fuck off!” He shoved at Crash’s legs as Kirby swallowed Bowser whole.

“Gojira is coming!” Crash shouted delightedly as his horned, fire breathing Kirby chased after Samus. “We must flee the city!”

He and Yuri tag teamed her and knocked her off the side before ganging up on Flynn. When Sodia got back in the game, they worked together to kick the crap out of Yuri and Crash’s characters. There was a great deal of good-natured shouting and swearing and shoving. Yuri was a warm weight on Flynn’s side, distraction and obstacle as he jerked the controller back and forth. He smelled like soap and not at all of cigarettes, and Flynn didn’t hesitate to shove him aside and knock Bowser right off the edge.

\----------------

They had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner later that evening, compliments of Yuri. Sodia seemed tired. She barely said anything through the meal. Flynn walked her out to her car when it was time for her to go home, and she hesitated with her key in the lock.

“You should move out,” she insisted.

His heart sank. He had thought that she would understand. It would have meant so much to him if someone from his old life had looked at what he’d found for himself and approved. Particularly if it had been Sodia. His mother had always liked her, always been a little unhappy that she and Flynn weren’t closer. A sudden thought struck him, and he watched her slide behind the wheel.

“Who did you get my number from?”

She didn’t look at him. “Your mother gave it to me.”

“Did she—”

“I’m not taking her side. I called because I wanted to.” Finally, she met his eyes. “Can I see you again in a few days?”

After she’d had time to report back to his mother? He shook off the paranoid thought.

“Sure.”

She smiled then. She really did have a pretty smile, and Flynn caught himself thinking that his life would have been so much easier if he had felt even the slightest stirring of interest. He stepped back as she closed the door, and waved as she backed out and drove off. Crash was on his way out as he turned back toward the house.

“Cute. You should ask her if she wants to be hot bikini chick number two.”

Without Yuri to interpret, the comment was lost on Flynn. Crash waved lazily, calling out: “Later, man,” then he was gone, too.

Inside, the house was quiet save for the rush of water from the kitchen where Yuri was rinsing out the pot he’d cooked the spaghetti sauce in. Flynn joined him at the counter and picked up a dishcloth to help dry.


End file.
